Showrunners are at all times on the lookout for new and artistic methods to attach with their viewers on essential real-life points. For Nature Cat’s co-creator and govt producer Adam Rudman, the reply was breaking the fourth wall altogether in Nature Cat’s Nature Movie Special Extraordinaire.
“On many occasions throughout Season 5, the characters reference that they are doing a show, even at times pulling out a script to check their lines,” notes Rudman, additionally identified for creating the PBS Kids collection Donkey Hodie. “For the special, we wanted to push that even more by having it open with Nature Cat and his pals trying to figure out what their ‘Movie Special Extraordinaire’ is about.”
Releasing on PBS Kids Monday, April 22, simply in time for Earth Day, the Spiffy Pictures collection particular begins with housecat Fred, who transforms into “Nature Cat” (Taran Killam) when his household leaves the home for the day, and his fellow home pet mates brainstorming concepts for his or her film. Suddenly, heartthrob hamster Sir Galahad (Chris Parnell) from Nature Cat’s very first episode, who’s now anointed himself King Galahad, begins taking issues from nature to make his citadel look extra lovely. It’s as much as Nature Cat and the gang to indicate Sir Galahad a greater approach to respect the pure great thing about their world earlier than he does extra injury to their favourite place.
“Humor and heart are key to the series,” says Rudman, who created the collection, which first aired in 2015, along with his brother David Rudman (Sesame Street, The Muppets) and Todd Hannert (Bunnytown, Jack’s Big Music Show). “We want to be silly and physical with our comedy, and we are incredibly fortunate to have an amazingly talented comedic voice cast who deliver the funny and at the same time also bring in the heart of these characters who care greatly about each other and the world around them.”
“We’re coming up on the 10th anniversary of this show,” provides Tommy Gillespie, senior director of content material creation at PBS Kids. “We’ve told so many stories over the years and all the ‘Nature Cat’ specials and episodes really do a great job of celebrating nature and the impact that kids can have on being good stewards of the environment. But this one takes the humor that all the episodes have and brings it up to a new level.”
Current seasons of the Nature Cat present and this new particular are produced by Yowza Animation, identified for his or her work on Warner Bros.’ Looney Toons Cartoons, Netflix’s Green Eggs and Ham, Nickelodeon’s Middlemost Post, and extra. The particular additionally options three unique songs written by Tony, Grammy, and Emmy Award-winning Bill Sherman and carried out by the solid: Taran Killam, Kate McKinnon, Bobby Moynihan, and Kate Micucci.
“In this line of work, any time you’re asked to write a Yacht Rock tune, you jump at the possibility,” says Sherman, who has served as composer and music director for Nature Cat since 2015. “Some of the greatest songs of our time are of this genre and to try and emulate that sound is always a joy. I really ran with the idea of channeling Philly soul duo Hall and Oates for this as well. Opening numbers, whether for the stage or for a ‘Nature-tastic Movie Special’ must grow and soar and introduce us into the world. Anytime Nature Cat and his friends can sing, harmonize, and even modulate, you know the movie is off to a good start.”
With Broadway as one other inspiration for the particular’s tunes, Sherman says he tried “to summon all of the massive theatrical and movie anthems” he might consider, together with Wicked’s “Defying Gravity” and the opening to The Greatest Showman. But then there was additionally the truth that, just like the present, Nature Cat’s music ought to by no means take itself too significantly.
“‘Nature Come Back’ was one of the more serious songs in the movie but, on another level, it turned into a long-running and silly inside joke between Adam and me about the much-maligned, soft or “lite” rock that dominated radio airwaves within the late Nineteen Seventies and early Nineteen Eighties like Ambrosia and Christopher Cross, of which we’re each secret followers,” says Hannert. “Nature Cat is so full of contradictions and full of himself in such a lovable way. His true nature is that of a showman and song-and-dance-cat. He would love to do a pull-out-all-of-the stops musical theater number with all of the fanfare and pomposity of a dynamic musical opener, starring him, in something like Ziegfield’s Follies meets PT Barnum meets ‘Annie.’”
Luckily, the crew is increasing Nature Cat’s stage. Releasing the identical day because the particular, a brand new short-form collection Nature Chat with Nature Cat will function Nature Cat talking on to followers about how they may also help make the world a greater place. Harkening again to clips from throughout all 5 seasons of the collection, with the assistance of his manufacturing assistant Gary the squirrel, Nature Chat explores ten totally different sustainability matters starting from composting and water conservation to upcycling, avoiding meals waste, and extra.
“A lot has changed about the way kids view and consume media in the nine years since ‘Nature Cat’ premiered,” notes Gillespie. “And it is a terrific alternative for us to star to have content material dwelling on totally different platforms, perhaps platforms like YouTube, the place we all know children are like to observe shorter-form content material. We wish to be pushing and innovating across the ways in which we’re delivering content material whereas making the most of the good library we’ve. It was additionally an ideal approach to marry some new animation with a few of the unimaginable tales that we’ve within the catalog.
A brief-form collection is one thing Rudman says he and his fellow creators have at all times needed to do. It was only a matter of discovering out learn how to do it proper. And drawing on the nostalgia, whereas utilizing bite-sized episodes to hone in on particular nature matters with children match their targets like a glove.
“And it’s been so much fun for us,” says Rudman. “With five seasons worth of episodes, it’s easy to forget certain storylines, so this was a great way to get to look back at all we’ve done.”
Nature Chat–which joins PBS Kids’ newer meeting of short-form collection like Jelly, Ben & Pogo and Augenblick’s City Island–was additionally a approach to straight deal with and reduce a few of the trauma that may be skilled by children in a state of affairs like a pure catastrophe.
“We have stories addressing when there’s maybe a hurricane coming to your area and the different ways you and your family should prepare,” shares Gillespie. “And, in addition to the information about preparedness, we’re also addressing these things from a child development perspective, providing the strategies to kids and parents for how to get through the emotional issues that come up.”
Rudman provides, “And we have two of the best curriculum advisors/producers around–Jesse McMahon and Frances Nankin–who have worked closely with us and guided the curriculum from day one of the series.”
From the start, Nature Cat has defied the norms of bold-edged caricatured animation. Despite the beady-eyed characters resembling these of Cartoon Network’s extra zany and jarring cartoons, like Angry Beavers, Nature Cat is a comforting, instructional present that addresses emotional matters with sincerity and lightness. It’s a welcomed shock and one which stands out in each the lengthy line of American comedy cartoons and the plethora of PBS Kids legacy collection. And it in some way bridges the hole between the 2.
“We like to take in all the incredible cartoon DNA we can,” says Gillespie. “Humor is key to the way we want to engage with kids, but we always come at it from a smart perspective, not leaning into the lowest common denominator gag. Nature Cat can still get shoved into a plastic cup, but it’s in service of a much bigger goal. We want to make sure that we are delivering top-tier educational content, but also top-tier entertaining and funny content.”
And if its seven-dozen episodes or Emmy Award nominations have something to say in regards to the longevity of the property, it’s that Nature Cat and his mates plan to discover the pure world for a very long time to come back. There are definitely no scarcity of matters for the crew to reap from.
Rudman shares, “We just love these characters and are excited for anytime we can get them out in the world more.”
Victoria Davis is a full-time, freelance journalist and part-time Otaku with an affinity for all issues anime. She’s reported on quite a few tales from activist information to leisure. Find extra about her work at victoriadavisdepiction.com.
